1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel antistatic agents useful for the production of polyester fibers having excellent antistaticity without compromising their desirable fiber characteristics. More particularly, it pertains to new dimetallic salts having one of their terminal groups capped by a polyalkylene oxide group, which are useful in ameliorating the electrostaticity of various polyester fibers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polyester fibers, although being widely used for such purposes as making clothes, curtains, tents and the like due to their good flexibility, mechanical strength and insulation ability, suffer from their notorious electrostaticity. Accordingly, numerous attempts have been made to cure the defect. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,448 offers a method of providing a garment comprising an outside fabric and a lining containing an electrically conductive fiber, which electrically conductive fiber in turn consists of a substrate of chemical fiber and an electrically conductive coating thereon. This method may not only be cumbersome to practice but also produce a limited effect depending on the durability of the coating employed. Furthermore, such garment has a built-in limitation on its applications. As another method of overcoming the electrostatic problem, U.S. Pat. No. 3,288,175 discloses the incorporation of a small quantity of metallic fiber into synthetic fibers. However, due to the incompatibility between the two types of fibers, various difficulties may be encountered in such steps as mixing the two types of fibers, spinning, weaving, processing, dyeing, finishing and the like.